10 Largest Radio Telescopes

The word "largest" can be a tricky word. So the list is split into traditional single-dish radio telescopes on a single mount, and into interferometric "virtual" telescopes consisting of multiple radio-wave, millimeter-wave and submillimeter-wave dishes whose images are combined. Also see 10 largest optical telescopes.

Single-dish telescopes

These are the 10 largest single-dish radio telescopes in the world:

1. Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST)

500 m
Guizhou, China


https://go-astronomy.com/observatory.php?ID=401

2. Green Bank Observatory (GBT)

100 m
Green Bank, WV USA


3. Effelsberg Radio Telescope

100 m
Bad Munstereifel, Germany


4. Lovell Telescope

76 m
Jodrell Bank, Goostrey, England


5. DSS 14 "Mars"

70 m
Goldstone DSCC, Mojave Desert, CA


6. DSS-43

70 m
CDSCC, Canberra, Australia


7. DSS-63

70 m
MDSCC, Madrid, Span


8. Yevpatoria RT-70

70 m
Yevpatoria, Ukraine


9. Galenki RT-70

8.2 m  /  323 inches (UT-1 thru UT-4)
Galenki, Russia


10. Suffka RT-70

70 m
Suffa Plateau, Uzbekistan




Interferometer-array telescopes

Relatively common in the radio-spectrum domain, radio interferometry is where images from multiple dishes are combined to form a single image. Interferometric telescopes in essence form a large "virtual" telescope with an effective aperture based on the distance between the member telescopes.

1. Event Horizon Telescope (EHT)

12.7 million meter effective aperture effective aperture (11 dishes)
worldwide


2. Very Large Array (VLA)

36,000 meter effective aperture (27 dishes)
Socorro, NM USA


3. Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA)

16,000 meter effective aperture (66 dishes)
Llano de Chajnantor, Chile


4. Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA)

8,600 meter effective aperture (10 dishes)
Cerro Paranal, Chile


5. Square Kilometer Array - Phase 1 (SKA1)

5,000 meter effective aperture | 192 dishes
Carnarvon, South Africa




Future radio telescopes

Here are notable large radio telescopes currently under construction or consideration:

Square Kilometer Array -Phase 2 (SKA2)

5,000,000 meter effective aperture | 2,000 dishes
Australia, South Africa


Next Generation Very Large Array (ngVLA)

1,000,000 meter effective aperture | 200+ dishes
NM, TX, AZ USA